§ Sir T. BRAMSDONasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether, in view of the stringent medical examination applied to new entries in peace time, which should make attributability more pronounced in the case of death or invaliding, some form of independent appeal board will be instituted to deal with any post-War cases in dispute, observing, for instance, that pneumonia might be clearly due to the service on which the man was employed, but that there is no machinery for recording or giving due consideration to the circumstances attending each case, nor for bringing them to the notice of the medical officers whose duty it is to decide this important matter at present?
§ Mr. AMERYAs my predecessor informed the hon. Member in reply to his question of the 21st March, it is not considered that any form of independent appeal board is necessary. I cannot agree with the statements in the latter part of the hon. Member's question. From the time a man enters the Royal Navy to the time he leaves it a careful record is kept of his medical history, and before any man is invalided for injury or disease all the details of such injury or disease are fully known to the board of survey1892W who definitely give their opinion as to attributability on special forms provided for the purpose. Such a disease as pneumonia might well in exceptional cases be definitely given as attributable to service. The surveying officers are medical men intimately acquainted by personal experience with the conditions of life at sea, and the Admiralty consider that no more efficient machinery could be devised for deciding the question of attributability. The same considerations apply to the death of a man or officer.